The People’s Publisher

The comic writer faces a difficult task. Like Dr. John, a good writer must switch between many hats, constantly changing between them. You start off in the gumshoe’s hat, researching the facts and details needed for your story. Next you throw on the bard’s hat, weaving your tale of adventure. Finally (and the one many writers have trouble with), you throw on the showman’s hat, calling one and all to “step right up, and take a glimpse into the amazing and wonderful”.

500 pages of freshly typed comic book script sit on your desktop; the literary vampire that has sucked away all your free time for ages. It’s polished to a diamond finish, and you’re ready to show the world. But how do you get it from your computer into the editor’s hands, and eventually onto the store shelves?

Enter: The Pitch.

There are a million questions when it comes to crafting a pitch, and just as many answers. I will try and answer as many questions as possible based upon what I looked for when I was in charge of reviewing pitches for a small independent publisher.

Here’s what I would include in a pitch:

- The hook
- A synopsis
- Future plans for the work
- Other

The Hook

This should be a single sentence that grabs the editor’s attention. Ideally it should also be the first sentence. Here are a few great examples:

“Gifted from birth with fantastic powers, the X-Men band together to defend a world that fears and hates them for their difference.”

“The world’s greatest hero disguises himself as a bumbling reporter in order to earn the affection of the only woman he’s ever loved.”

“Witnessing the murder of his parents, a young boy turned millionaire fights crime as a costumed vigilante.”

The Synopsis

This is where to tell us who the characters are, along with their motivations. Where does it take place? What is the central conflict? Give a brief yet total overview of the plot. If you are pitching a series, just pitch the first arc here. Ideally this should be kept to a paragraph.

Future Plans

If you are pitching a one-shot or self-contained story, you can skip this part. If you are pitching an ongoing or undefined group on miniseries, this is where you tell us where you plan to go with the story.

Other

This is where you can explain things like:

1) What format is it going to be?
2) Who is your intended audience?
3) Any clever marketing ideas for your comic?

This is not how everyone does theirs, but this is how I do mine. If possible, I would try to keep this all to one page. Too long and you’ll stay in the slush pile; too short and you will be skipped over.